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Tillage news and updates. Find articles on all tillage systems, no till, strip till, and more. Keep up on new tillage products and technology.en-usCopyright 2015 Successful FarmingSun, 02 Aug 2015 18:16:34 GMTAgriculture.com - Tillagehttp://www.agriculture.com/images/ag-logo-144x29.pnghttp://www.agriculture.com/crops/tillage
14429http://www.agriculture.com/rss30No-Till a Solution to Climate Changehttp://www.agriculture.com/crops/tillage/no-till/notill-a-solution-to-climate-chge_188-ar49498
<p><font size="2">Reducing tillage for some Great
Plains crops could help conserve water and reduce losses caused by climate
change, according to USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS) investigations. </font></p><p><font size="2">ARS Researcher Laj Ahuja superimposed climate projections onto 15 to 17 years of field data to&nbsp;</font><span style="font-size: 13px;">see how future crop yields might be affected.&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 10pt;">The field data was collected at the ARS Central Great Plains Research Station in Akron, Colorado. Ahuja's research team employed a computer models to study crop rotations that included&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 10pt;">wheat-fallow, wheat-corn-fallow, and wheat-corn-millet to
see how yields might be affected in the future.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 10pt;"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:.1pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:.1pt;
margin-left:0in;mso-para-margin-top:.01gd;mso-para-margin-right:0in;mso-para-margin-bottom:
.01gd;mso-para-margin-left:0in"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">They simulated different
combinations of three climate change projections that included rising carbon dioxide (CO2) levels, rising
temperatures, and a shift in precipitation from late spring and summer to fall
and winter.&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 10pt;">When the researchers used all three
climate factors to generate yield projections from 2005 to 2100, the yield
estimates for the three cropping systems dropped over time. Declines in corn
and millet yields were more significant than declines in wheat yields.<br></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 10pt;">The ARS team also simulated earlier planting
dates and no-till management to see if either change reduced yield losses, but
only the no-till option helped. In the wheat-fallow rotation with no tillage,
wheat yields were higher than with conventional tillage through 2075. But by
2100, when summer temperatures had increased by 8° F., even the no-till
yield advantage was lost.</span></p>Mon, 13 Jul 2015 15:10:43 GMThttp://www.agriculture.com/crops/tillage/no-till/notill-a-solution-to-climate-chge_188-ar49498Steps to Transition to No-Tillhttp://www.agriculture.com/crops/tillage/no-till/steps-to-trsition-to-notill_188-ar47994
<p>Transitioning fields into a no-till system was once a drawn-out process for brothers Keith and Doug Thompson, who farm near Osage City, Kansas. Fields could take five to 10 years before showing signs of greater tilth and life in the soil. Evidence of greater resiliency in crops could take that long, as well.<br><br>That was more than 20 years ago. Over time, the brothers, who now farm in partnership with Keith’s son, Ben, fine-tuned their no-till system. “Now, it takes just takes three years to fully transition fields,” says Keith.<br><br><b>Early lessons</b><br>A critical lesson they learned early on is that it is not enough to simply stop tilling. Hand-in-hand with this must come a rotation strategically designed to express diversity and a well-planned frequency and placement of crops within a rotation.<br><br>Then came the insight that adding cover crops to the system could potentially increase yields and improve soil health. Most recently, the Thompsons have added livestock to achieve more enhanced benefits from their no-till cropping system.<br><br>A strategically designed rotation remains the solid foundation. <br><br>“We grow two years of milo or corn followed by two years of soybeans,” says Keith. “After that, we grow two years of a cereal crop like winter wheat or barley.”<br><br>Thus, the stacked cycles alternate between a warm-season grass species, a warm-season broadleaf, and a cool-season grass. The four-year break between main-crop species disrupts populations of weeds and insects that may have started to build during the two years that fields grew the same crop back to back.<br><br>As often as weather and field conditions permit, the Thompsons plant a multispecies cover crop after each main crop. These, of course, add further diversity to the system. Either rye, barley, or triticale serves as the base crop for a diverse mix including at least six species. The mix of species is tailored to enhance rotational diversity to the previous main crop. <br><br>Species blended into the cover crop may include winter peas, mung beans, common vetch, hairy vetch, sunflower, buckwheat, radishes, or turnips. They plan to cut back on brassicas in the cover crop mix because of brassicas’ effect on soil residue. Reducing these in the mix may help to slow the otherwise rapid decomposition of residue in their soils.<br><br>“In our system, brassicas seem to burn up carbon too fast,” says Keith. “Our goal is to put carbon into the soil.”<br><br>Adding carbon improves soil quality on the Thompson farm and also plays a more far-reaching role.<br><br>“Much of my recent reading suggests that practicing no-till and including cattle grazing in a cropping system effectively sequesters carbon in the soil,” he says. “As this happens, the carbon dioxide in the air may be lowered.”<br><br><b>Soil life</b><br>A present benefit of their system includes abundant soil life. “Bugs and worms are everywhere on our farms,” says Keith. “The abundant soil life improves soil quality, and this helps water infiltration. We have a lack of runoff because water runs into the soil.” The added moisture-holding capacity of their soil gives crops greater resiliency in dry weather.<br><br>Reduced input costs are additional benefits of their diverse no-till system. The most immediate savings back in their start-up years showed up in fuel and machinery costs.<br><br>“The first year we quit tilling, we saved $5,000 in fuel costs,” says Keith. “Our repair costs went down. As a five-year average, we had been running $30 an acre in repair costs. Over the first five-year period of no-tilling, our repair expenses dropped to $15 an acre. We didn’t see a super yield advantage from no-till, but the cost savings led to increased income.” <br><br>While in some years chemical inputs are reduced, these have tended to remain at the same level as they were before switching to no-till.<br><br>“We apply a preplant herbicide to fields. The individual year and annual field conditions determine whether or not we have to go back later on and clean up with another herbicide treatment,” says Keith. <br><br>“Our herbicide costs do vary from year to year but have stayed relatively steady. In a worst-case scenario, our chemical use is the same as it was when we were tilling. In many instances, we are able to use less chemical.”<br><br>They have found that cover crops are particularly effective at reducing chemical inputs.<br>“When there is a cover grown in a field before the main crop, 90% of the time we never have to go back and spray the field again,” he says.<br><br>Yet, in most of the fields where there is no cover grown, the Thompsons follow the preplant herbicide with a postemergence spray to control weeds.<br><br>The cover crops make an ideal entry point for cattle into the cropping system. After cover crop growth is established, the Thompsons let cattle graze about half of the growth. Ben manages the controlled grazing of the cattle. Using temporary cross-fencing, he moves cattle daily or weekly, depending upon grazing conditions in each field.<br><br>“The cattle add another dimension to soil health,” says Keith. “Processes in cattle’s digestive system enhance soil quality. The trampling of the residue by their hooves stimulates the microbiology in the soil.<br><br>“Every time Ben has grazed cattle on a farm, that farm will invariably produce more than it had been producing,” Keith says.<br><br></p>Mon, 16 Mar 2015 20:11:19 GMThttp://www.agriculture.com/crops/tillage/no-till/steps-to-trsition-to-notill_188-ar47994Limit Physical Disturbances for Soil Healthhttp://www.agriculture.com/crops/tillage/no-till/limit-physical-disturbces-f-soil-health_188-ar47856
<p>“We need to cut back on tillage,” says Jill Clapperton, principal scientist with Rhizoterra, Inc., a Spokane, Washington, soil health firm. “Everywhere in the world, we need to reduce the amount of tillage. We need to reduce the amount of habitat destruction.”<br><br>Tillage reduces the soils’ capacity to function and causes bacteria to consume soil carbon, explains Ray Archuleta, a Natural Resources Conservation Services (NRCS) conservation agronomist in Greensboro, North Carolina. It adds an additional stressor to the system. <br><br>Besides wreaking havoc on the natural cycle, tillage causes you to lose soil at a faster rate than you would with no-till. Don Reicosky, a retired USDA-ARS soil scientist from Morris, Minnesota, cites a 1993 University of Kentucky study that compared conservation tillage with a conventional tillage system. <br><br>“On a relative basis, the conventionally tilled system lost soil 52 times more than a no-till system,” says Reicosky. “That was unacceptable. We are losing soil much faster than Mother Nature is making it.” <br><br>Reicosky says that is not a sustainable system, and more extreme climate can fuel soil erosion, like those 5- to 6-inch rapid rainfalls. <br><br>“No-till has an advantage in that the small amount of erosion that is lost is equal to the rate of soil formation. This will allow for the soil to be sustainable for five to 10 future generations,” he says. <br></p><hr>What’s your soil’s most limiting factor? Nitrogen, right? Maybe potassium? How about phosphorus? <br><p>Wrong, wrong, and wrong again. Carbon is the most limiting factor in the soil. <br>Surprised? Don’t be. “Carbon is the energy substrate that drives the soil. Organic matter is about 58% carbon. It runs the system,” says Archuleta.<br><br>“Carbon is important in all soil activities,” adds Reicosky. “Carbon impacts the soil structure and nutrient cycling. Carbon is important to maintain the physical, chemical, and biological processes in the soil. That makes carbon the greatest management tool available.”<br><br>“We haul it off, we till it, we bale it, it goes off as carbon dioxide,” adds Archuleta. “If we incorporate residue, how much of it actually makes it into the soil? Only 35%. The rest of it goes off as carbon dioxide.” <br><br>All this leaves soils carbon-depleted, he points out. <br><br>“Carbon input through plants nurtures bugs that chew up biomass in roots, shoots, and leaves. Biomass provides and recycles nutrients. Carbon also helps cycle nutrients. Building up carbon in the soil enhances water-holding capacity,” says Reicosky.<br><br>Carbon keeps the soil pores open and facilitates the water cycle. The water cycle isn’t complete until it goes into the soil system. All of these systems are connected intimately, says Archuleta. <br><br>No-till paired with cover crops makes all the difference. These carbon-retention twins help retain soil carbon nearly year-round. Without some form of energy that soil carbon can help fuel, soil biology will not function.<br><br>“By using no-till and cover crop mixes, you can work with nature’s diversity and synergy to manage carbon in order to achieve better lifestyle for food security,” Reicosky says. "With no-till, you have minimum carbon loss. With cover crops, you maximize carbon input in regard to carbon management. Without good carbon management, you will not have a sustainable system."<br><br>Soil residue helps protect the soil surface. “This decreases evaporation, so there is less water wasted and more going to the plant,” Reicosky says. <br><br>If you can manage soil carbon better, there will be food security for future generations, says Reicosky.&nbsp;&nbsp; <br><br>The takeaway? Leave crop residue alone. <br></p>Mon, 09 Mar 2015 16:47:26 GMThttp://www.agriculture.com/crops/tillage/no-till/limit-physical-disturbces-f-soil-health_188-ar47856No-till, Diverse Rotations Help Oklahoma Farmer Beat the Heathttp://www.agriculture.com/crops/tillage/no-till/notill-diverse-rotations-help-oklahoma_188-ar47374
<p>In southwest Oklahoma, acre after acre, mile after mile, farmers here grow winter wheat and graze cattle. That's pretty much it. <br><br>Alan Mindeman, who owns Apache Seed Farms near Apache, grows wheat, but his crop operation is so much more. Wheat is one component of a thriving system that works with the region's often unforgiving climate. <br><br>Mindeman, who has no-tilled continuously since 1996, says protecting the soil surface by not tilling and preserving residue is vital.<br><br>"I can more efficiently use the moisture I get. Too many farmers believe they cannot no-till, but the truth is they can't afford to till anymore," he explains. Many farmers graze wheat or crop residue, or put up hay, leaving very little residue behind. Over time, these soils wear out. <br><b><br>A Marked Difference</b><br>Mindeman's current operation is dramatically different than when he grew up. "My Dad was the cleanest 'clean tiller' there ever was," he says. <br><br>The problems with strict conventional tillage were illustrated when Alan's father was bull-dozing terraces on these clean-till fields. Where terraces had once been, crops the next year were excellent, because soils beneath the terraces had not been disturbed. After several years, however, these once lush strips where the terraces had been began to yield the same as the rest of the tilled field. <br></p><p>"We just wore out that soil," he recalls. <br><br>Fast forward to 1996, Alan's first year as a farmer. He was convinced that no-till was the way to go, and bought a 750 no-till drill. He gleaned information from and bounced ideas off of fellow no-tillers through the Pioneer No-till Association in Enid, Oklahoma. It took five or six years to get a no-till system in place, but Mindeman reckons many producers embarking upon a new no-till system don't have the patience to work through the transition from tillage to no-tillage. <br><br>"Just when it's getting good, they tear it up," he says. "They just can't figure out what else to do."<br><br>Mindeman's farm gets about 32 inches of precipitation each year. Rain is sporadic, and seldom comes at the right time. <br><br>"To be efficient with moisture, we need to have residue," he says. "Grazing or haying our crop residue is a killer."<br><br>In the form of stubble following harvest or cover crops, the presence of crop residue allows Mindeman to keep a flexible crop system. There is no set crop rotation, although wheat, grain sorghum, corn and sunflowers are main cash crops. Mindeman also grows red and white milo, proso millet, sesame, mug beans and non-GM soybeans. Wheat is the only crop he grows in a "stacked" rotation (or in consecutive years). Even then, he may grow a short-term crop in between wheat harvest and wheat planting, just to provide armor for the soil.<br><br><b>Many Opportunities</b><br>He constantly searches for new markets for these "unconventional" crops. His on-farm storage system can hold an entire year's worth of conventional and non-conventional crops, which improves marketing flexibility. <br><br>This year, Mindeman sold more than a million pounds of proso millet to a nearby birdseed purveyor, which formally had to import in from several states away. "I provide a quality product just in time. If they need a load tomorrow, I can have a semi at their door by 10 a.m.," he says. "It's all about geographic advantage. I can grow a lot of crops close to them." <br>He grows cover crops to keep an armor of living plants on the soil, which improves soil health. Fields are zone sampled on a three-year rotation, and improvements are made as necessary. <br><br>Mindeman, who serves as vice president of the No-till on the Plains organization, notes that soil organic matter on his fields improves at a rate of 1/10th of 1% each year. That kind of improvement helps increase water holding capacity and nutrient availability. Combined, these factors provide a host of cropping possibilities. <br><br>"So many options," he says, "but the basis of all this is long-term, high-residue no-till. When you have that down, you can exploit a lot of opportunities." <br></p>Wed, 04 Feb 2015 21:02:49 GMThttp://www.agriculture.com/crops/tillage/no-till/notill-diverse-rotations-help-oklahoma_188-ar47374Keep Your Topsoilhttp://www.agriculture.com/crops/tillage/keep-your-topsoil_187-ar47223
<p>At a North Dakota soil health field day, Jodi DeJong-Hughes, University of Minnesota Extension crop and soils educator, jestfully opened the event with a big thank you to that state’s farmers.<br><br>That’s because they send some of North Dakota’s best topsoil to Minnesota. Although the wind may have delivered it, she focused on what farmers were doing to cause it.<br><br>“We always think of wind and water erosion,” she told them. “One thing we never think of is tillage erosion.”<br><br>It’s not just a North Dakota issue. She illustrated the point with two photos of a west-central Minnesota county road ditch. One showed heavy snirt (dirt on snow) next to a field that had been tilled aggressively (less than 25% residue). Meanwhile, a pristine-white ditch flanked a field just down the road where the farmer left 45% crop residue.<br><b><br>Soil-loss costs</b><br>DeJong-Hughes was inspired to do some digging herself. If farmers aren’t overly concerned about destroying soil structure or losing topsoil, she wondered if they might be interested in knowing how much money soil loss can cost them. <br><br>“I wanted to show how much N, P, and K (nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium) is moving with the soil into the ditch,” she says. She took six samples of snirt from different ditches across western Minnesota and had it analyzed. <br><br>Topsoil losses ranged from 1.6 tons to 33 tons per ditch acre. (An acceptable soil loss is 5 tons per acre – the thickness of a dime.) <br><br>Nutrient losses also ranged wildly, from 10 pounds to 172 pounds per ditch acre of total N losses. This was on top of P and K losses.<br><br>“If you add up the averages, it’s about $55 per acre of N, P, and K,” DeJong-Hughes says. “The organic matter came back about 4.1 or 4.2 (a good organic-matter level). So, it’s your best soil that you are losing.”<br><br>Fortunately, there are solutions.<br><br><b>Set up for erosion</b><br>To be fair, the producers in eastern North Dakota and western Minnesota face extra challenges. The Red River Valley is one of the three worst areas in the U.S. for wind erosion because of its flatness and soil type.<br><br>“Anytime you have more than a 13-mph wind over a flat surface, you can have wind erosion,” DeJong-Hughes says. That wind speed is fairly typical for the region. Plus, the soil has a high clay content.”<br><br>Clay is made up of microscopic particles, much smaller than sand and silt. “The smaller the particle, the easier it is to move,” she notes, referring to a photo of a gray fog of clay particles nearly obliterating a grain elevator in the background. That makes clay extremely vulnerable to wind erosion when it is dry.<br><br>Windbreaks and other practices have greatly reduced wind erosion since the Dirty 1930s when North Dakota soil blew as far as New York and the Atlantic Ocean.<br><br>“Minnesota actually has higher wind erosion than North Dakota,” she adds. <br><br>Still, she warns that North Dakota farmers who remove windbreaks are setting up for increased erosion. <br><br>Outdated tillage methods also contribute to erosion. She cites an example of a farmer moldboard-plowing up and down the hills on his fields. That resulting water erosion tallied about 9 tons per acre. <br><br>It gets worse. That’s because the farmer had three times as much tillage erosion: 27 tons per acre per year of topsoil moved from the tops of the hills to the bottoms of the hills. The proof was in his wheat yields. He got 46 bushels per acre on top and 96 bushels per acre below.<br><br>“How do farmers and consultants manage that kind of variability?” DeJong-Hughes asks. “How do you manage 7.4 vs. 8.3 on pH? How do you manage that kind of organic matter differences with herbicides and P and K management?”<br><br>Saving soil is all about cover. While planting cover crops is one solution, DeJong-Hughes emphasizes smarter tillage.<br><br>“Reduced tillage has two powerful soil benefits. It leaves residue on the soil surface for cover, and it keeps the soil structure,” she says. <br><br>Tillage breaks up structure. The more aggressive the tillage, the more it breaks up the soil. That means reducing fall tillage. This leaves residue that holds the soil through the winter. Instead of conventional tilling, DeJong-Hughes recommends experimenting by renting a strip-tiller or vertical-till equipment, or leaving tillage until spring if soybeans will be planted.<br><br>Handy producers on limited budgets often make their own equipment by adding residue managers and berming disks to an anhydrous bar to lightly till the soil. <br><br>“Break tradition,” she says. “Think about what your soils need and pay attention to them.”<br><br>Vertical tillage is sometimes the only way to get into fields with wet, heavy soils. Other soils and regions require different approaches. Among the hilly fields in northeast Iowa, NRCS area resource conservationist Jered Finley regards tillage erosion in different terms.<br><br>“In Iowa, we don’t have an erosion problem; we have an infiltration problem,” he says. “Pore spaces (soil structure) are destroyed with tillage.” <br><br>Intense rains in recent springs have accentuated the problem. While some producers leave corn residue over winter, soil that’s tilled before planting is vulnerable to the 3 inches of rain per hour that have become more common. Even terraced fields have soil displacement. <br><br>Only established no-till fields (six years or more) hold up. That’s because water infiltrates the soil rather than running off as it does on cultivated soils that have created impenetrable crusts. Money from programs such as EQIP and the Conservation Stewardship Program help reduce some risk farmers incur for trying new cultivation methods. The program has steadily grown in the past few years. <br><br>With consistent abnormally wet springs, more producers recognize the urgency to change tillage practices.<br><br>“We need to treat the problem instead of the symptom,” Finley says. That means reducing tillage to let water seep into soil, rather than erode soil.<br><br>DeJong-Hughes admits change isn’t easy. Changing tillage methods is more than just changing a piece of equipment, she notes. It’s a whole system that requires education about managing weeds and banding fertilizer, for example. <br><br>“Keeping your nutrients and keeping your soil – all of it hinges around tillage,” she says.<br><br>The upshot is don’t waste your resources or let them blow into the next state.<br></p><hr><b>Make do with less</b><br>While many farmers are proud of their equipment quantity, Ed Hegland figures he has bragging rights on how few pieces of equipment he needs. The Appleton, Minnesota, farmer has switched to strip-till and no-till to grow corn and soybeans. <br><br>Like Jodi DeJong-Hughes, he noticed dirt in the ditches on his travels to commodity board meetings and to the Twin Cities. He also noticed climbing equipment and fuel costs in his farm accounts. <br><br>In 2006, he rented equipment and experimented with strip-tilling his cornfields. By 2008, he was all in – strip-tilling corn and no-tilling soybeans.<br><br>While wild winds from the 2013-2014 winter moved topsoil from neighbors’ conventionally farmed fields, the 12- to 18-inch-tall cornstalks and bean stubble in his fields held soil in place.<br><br>“Strip-till takes more management,” he admits, “and it’s a challenge during harvest.”<br><br>Time is limited before freeze-up, and he has to pay attention to proper fertilizer placement as he tills an 8-inch-wide strip in bean stubble in preparation for the following year’s corn crop.<br>Because he’s doing less tillage, he needs less equipment: a 285-hp. tractor, a self-propelled sprayer, a planter, a combine, and a strip-tiller. Last fall, Hegland upgraded to a 16-row Soil Warrior for strip-tilling to match his 16-row planter. It gives him versatility to engage just the coulters or the coulters with the shanks. It also has two hoppers for him to variable-rate two different fertilizers based on grid sampling recently completed on all his soybean acres.<br><br>“I know exactly what fertilizer is going where in my fields,” he notes. “It won’t go away in water or wind erosion.”<br><br>He estimates he’s cut back fertilizer use about 25%. Because of fewer trips across the field (strip-till in fall and spring, planting, and side- dressing), he saves an even higher percentage on fuel and compaction.<br><br>“In 2009, the compaction from the combine and grain cart was tremendous for everyone,” he recalls. “I could drive my combine on strip-till ground with standing water; they couldn’t do that on fields tilled 8 to 12 inches deep.”<br><br>With several years of reduced tillage, Hegland has seen organic matter improve. Ag product dealers comment on the good soil structure and the number of earthworms.<br><br>Hegland appreciates the economics, improved soil health, and good yields of using less tillage.<br><br>“I think the cost aspect is pretty evident,” he says. “I think the soil conservation aspect of it is very important. I have young kids, and I want them to have the opportunity to farm and have great soil. I’m proud to conserve soil and that I’m building organic matter and soil structure.”Wed, 28 Jan 2015 22:20:31 GMThttp://www.agriculture.com/crops/tillage/keep-your-topsoil_187-ar47223Lessons From No-Tillhttp://www.agriculture.com/crops/tillage/no-till/lessons-from-notill_188-ar47220
<p>With 25 years of no-till under their belts, brothers Mark and Bruce Watson have learned by trial and error. Coping with semiarid conditions on their farm near Alliance, Nebraska, the Watsons sidestepped the area’s traditional wheat-fallow system in favor of a diverse continuous-cropping rotation designed to conserve soil and moisture.<br><br>“This is a fragile environment here, where wind erosion is still a big problem on many farms,” says Mark, a Panhandle no-till educator. “Moisture is always a limiting factor, and our eroded, low-quality soils have poor moisture-holding capacity.”<br><br>As the Watsons evolved over time a continuous-cropping no-till system, they experimented with crops like proso millet, sunflowers, chickpeas, spring wheat, and others. “We were looking for crops that would fit our environment as well as our marketing outlets,” he says.<br><br>The crops they eventually chose to grow in their dryland rotation include winter wheat followed by corn and then yellow field peas. The rotation gives both short and long fallow periods, each matched to the moisture needs of the subsequent crop.<br><br>The peas are planted between late March and late April and harvested in mid-July. Winter wheat is then seeded into the standing pea stubble in mid-September.<br><br>“Between the harvesting of the field peas and the planting of winter wheat, we get a couple months of fallow,” says Mark.<br><br>The wheat is harvested the following summer in mid-July, and these fields then stand fallow over winter until the corn is planted in late April or early May of the next year.<br><br>During this nine- to 10-month fallow period, the Watsons hope to bank as much precipitation as possible for the corn, which uses a lot of soil moisture before it’s harvested in October.<br><br><b>Residue Is Key</b><br>Besides providing a long fallow period, the growing of winter wheat before corn also offers the moisture-saving benefit of tall residue after harvest. The residue traps snow to further recharge soil moisture.<br><br>“In order to leave a lot of standing residue to catch snow, we use a stripper header on the combine,” says Mark. “The residue also reduces soil-moisture evaporation, and that helps us produce corn on dryland acres. The more residue we have, the higher the corn yields.”<br><br>Leaving stalks a couple of feet tall after harvesting corn also helps trap snow.<br><br>“It’s actually easier to no-till into standing corn stubble than it is to plant into cornstalks lying on the ground,” Mark says.<br><br>The residue from both wheat and corn has a high ratio of carbon to nitrogen, which slows down decomposition of plant material.<br><br>However, growing peas behind corn initiates the breakdown of surface residue left from both wheat and corn. The pea stubble has a high ratio of nitrogen to carbon, and this speeds up the decomposition of plant material.<br><br>“By the time we plant wheat again, much of the buildup of surface residue has been broken down and recycled into the soil,” he says.<br><br>After more than two decades of no-tilling, soil quality and the processes of soil-moisture retention are showing signs of greater health.<br><br>“We’ve seen improvements in soil organic matter over time,” says Mark, “and the crop residue on the surface helps water infiltrate the soil. Our moisture-use efficiency is high because we capture most of the moisture we get by no-till and by continuous cropping.”<br><br>By comparison, moisture-use efficiency of tilled summer fallow is only 15% to 25%, he says.<br><br>Typical wheat-summer fallow systems in his area will lie fallow for 14 months.<br><br>“During that time, we might get 19 inches of precipitation, but the fallow will store only 4 to 6 inches in the soil profile,” says Mark. “Most of the moisture evaporates, runs off, and passes through the soil profile, where it can’t be used by the following crop.”<br><br>Present benefits aside, the Watsons’ system and its processes could be further improved, Mark says. Adding livestock may be their next step toward further advances in soil health and a resilient production system.<br><br>“Historically, the grazing of animals was a key component in the evolution of the High Plains,” says Mark. “The more we can mimic that, the better off our soil will be. We hope to work toward a system of planting diverse forages for livestock grazing.”<br><br>They are considering adopting a rotation of winter wheat, forages for grazing, and field peas.<br><br>“We would then take the dryland corn out of our operating system,” says Mark. “Corn is the crop most likely to fail in our environment.”<br><br>The new rotation could secure a more stable future for Bruce’s son, John, and Mark’s son, Jacob, as they work into the farming operation.<br><br>“Agriculture is dynamic. It involves a learning process and exposing yourself to making mistakes,” says Mark. “Like other farmers, we’re trying to make better use of our resources and become better stewards by improving the health of our soil.”<br></p>Wed, 28 Jan 2015 21:48:43 GMThttp://www.agriculture.com/crops/tillage/no-till/lessons-from-notill_188-ar47220Strip-Till in Minnesotahttp://www.agriculture.com/crops/tillage/strip-till/striptill-in-minnesota_189-ar45913
<p>Dead center in Minnesota, a modest corn-soybean farm has been happily breaking the tillage rules for about six years. For his situation, a one-pass four-in-one strip-tillage program works the best, says Terry Rickbeil, of Rickbeil Farms, Browerville, Minnesota.<br><br><b>Better than no-till</b><br>Rickbeil farms 900 acres. The soil is sandy, coarse textured, and well drained. Most acres are irrigated. The farm has a short planting season and a short growing season. Some fields are in conventional tillage. He tried zero tillage for a few years, but strip-till is his preferred choice. <br></p><p>“I try to get in as early as possible,” says Rickbeil. “I’m working with a limited number of growing-degree days, and every day counts. Some years I have heavy spring rains. Nine years out of 10, I can have a dry spell in summer at a critical time. <br></p><p>“With irrigated crops, I have a lot of residue from the corn,” he adds. In fact, it was no-till soybean performance in disked pivot irrigation tracks that led Rickbeil to see if he could make strip-till work better than no-till. <br></p><p>“The no-till was slow to grow because the ground was too cool,” explains Rickbeil. “Where I had disked irrigation pivot tracks, the beans always seemed about 6 inches taller. So I decided to try strip-till to open up the soil and to warm it a little.”<br></p><p>That was in 2008. Rickbeil settled on doing seedbed preparation for his soybeans with new Yetter Manufacturing Maverick strip-till row units. <br></p><p>“I put eight on my existing toolbar and gave it a whirl,” says Rickbeil. “Later, I stretched out the openers and put the knife farther back than the original design, to give me better residue flow.”<br><br><b>Time for an upgrade</b><br>In 2013, Rickbeil went shopping for a 12-row upgrade. He didn’t have more ground, but he wanted to cover it faster with 12-row strip-till and planter systems. He settled on the newer 2984 Maverick HR Plus for strip-till. <br></p><p>Price was one of the big factors while he shopped for a bigger strip-till system.<br></p><p>“There is a whole gamut to choose from,” he says. “This was reasonably priced. A lot are over $3,000 per row unit. These were approximately $2,300 per row unit. That was the number one factor.” <br></p><p>Price wasn’t the only reason. The Maverick HR Plus row units are a little heavier than the previous model, have more clearance for heavy trash flow, and are about the same length as the units he modified a few years earlier. <br></p><p>“The original design of the Maverick wasn’t ideal in heavy cornstalks,” he says. “I had a lot of plugging issues. Stretching it out and lengthening it made a big difference.” <br></p><p>The strip-till row units have more than average corn residue to cope with. Rickbeil has a typical 200-bushel yield on irrigated corn. He doesn’t run a chopping head. Instead, he uses knife rolls on his corn head.<br></p><p>“Maverick does a pretty good job of working through that residue in the spring,” he says. “The residue has more chance to flow through the unit instead of bunching up. It has to go through four components – the slicing opening coulter, the trash whippers, the knife right behind that, and finally the sealer blades.”<br></p><p>He cleans and opens 8-inch planting strips for his soybeans midway between his former 30-inch corn rows. <br></p><p>It’s a personal choice, he says, but he prefers the SharkTooth residue manager wheels to notched concave disks for cutting through heavy corn residue. He runs the fertilizer placement knife at 8 inches deep and finds that he has good placement.<br></p><p>The 2013 strip-till operation wasn’t any faster, as it turned out, but he’s happy with the wider system.<br></p><p>“To be honest, it probably took about the same amount of time. That’s because I spent a lot of time adjusting the planter, getting it fine-tuned,” he says. “Hopefully, next year will be a lot faster. There’s always a learning curve.”<br></p>Thu, 30 Oct 2014 21:09:21 GMThttp://www.agriculture.com/crops/tillage/strip-till/striptill-in-minnesota_189-ar45913Strip-Till Encourages Mellow Growing Conditions and Higher Yieldshttp://www.agriculture.com/crops/tillage/strip-till/striptill-encourages-mellow-growing_189-ar45151
<p>Innovator Gary Wolf enjoys trying something new. He’s found that the Maverick, a strip-tillage tool from Illinois, solves some old compaction problems for his land in southwest Missouri. <br><br>Wolf farms 325 acres of corn, wheat, and soybeans in Verona, Missouri, a town between Joplin and Springfield. He has a red, shallow, compaction-prone, clay-based soil. “It can be sticky when it’s wet, and hard as a rock when it’s dry,” explains Wolf. “Whenever it gets hard and dry, the rain will run off.”<br><br><b>No-till frustrations</b><br>He farmed that land with conventional tillage in the 1980s and 1990s. He tried zero-tillage for about five years but couldn’t get it to work on his soil. <br><br>Under no-till, he found it frustrating to irrigate one 90-acre plot. He’d apply ¾ inch of water and watch it run off to the neighbor’s land. <br><br>Wolf heard about strip-tillage up north as a new alternative, and he decided it could be worth trying. At a trade show in 2006, he purchased new Maverick strip-tillage units with rolling baskets, which were made by Yetter Manufacturing.<br><br>“When I went to strip-till in 2007, I could put on ¾ inch of water with no runoff, anywhere in the field,” says Wolf. “All that moisture ran right into the rows where the strip-till machine had worked. Now, if I get any kind of rain at all, it all goes in the ground; there’s no runoff. Strip-till keeps that ground loose in that row. That’s a big plus.”<br><br>He’s made a couple of adjustments but still has the original six-row, 2984 Maverick on 30-inch spacing (shown above). It’s changed his success with farming.<br><b><br>One-pass solution</b><br>The Maverick is a one-pass system between harvest and planting. It has coulters that open the ground to clear a path for seeding, a shank for deeper ripping, another set of coulters for closing the furrow, and a rolling basket to pulverize clods. <br><br>“I have an area about 6 inches wide that looks like it’s been plowed; it’s that soft and mellow,” says Wolf.<br><br>The basic Maverick helps him conserve moisture. It only works about 6 inches on a 30-inch row, but the shanks go deeper than disks. <br><br>In March, ahead of corn planting, he puts the shanks down at 8 inches deep and pulls at 6 to 8 mph with a 160-hp. tractor. If he walks on a 6-inch row, it’s just like walking on plowed ground, he says. <br><br>Wolf chose deeper-reaching shanks as opposed to another coulter to fracture his hardpan. Later, he added a 1-inch mole knife to the bottom of the shank to improve its ability to fracture his deeper hardpan. In 2011, he plumbed the Maverick for a liquid fertilizer kit. <br><br>“I get a better plant population in that soft ground than I did with no-till in hard ground,” says Wolf. “My seed boxes hardly move at all now. With no-till, they bounced quite a bit. I get a more even planting depth and more even spacing. <br><br>“It paid for itself in two years,” says Wolf. “It makes me about 10 bushels an acre on corn and on soybeans. Since I started doing fertilizer with it, it’s doing even more.”<br><br>His soft red winter wheat is still no-till, but he’s out with the Maverick right after the wheat is off. He plants short-season soybeans into that ground around July 1 to get a double crop.</p><p>“I will strip-till no matter what the conditions – whether it’s wet or dry,” he says.<br>&nbsp;<br><b>Neighbors wowed</b><br>In July 2012, it was hot and dry. Two friends asked Wolf if his Maverick could work the hardpan. <br><br>“Normally, one of my neighbors does conventional tillage,” says Wolf. “I didn’t put on any fertilizer for him, I just did strip-till. After that, he saw a foot of difference in the corn.”<br><br>Another friend, who does no-till, asked for help. “His land that was strip-tilled made twice the corn per acre than what was no-tilled,” says Wolf. <br><br><b>Fertilizer kit</b><br>Wolf is also a custom spray applicator and works with an agronomist from northern Missouri. After hearing that deep-placed potash was benefitting corn in the North, he decided to see if a liquid fertilizer option could help at home in southwest Missouri. <br><br>For 2012, after a trial the previous year, he installed two fertilizer tanks on his Maverick, added a pump, hoses, and other hardware to deliver the fertilizer behind the shank openers. <br>He put nitrate below the corn at first. He expanded that to 60 units of nitrate and 50 units of potash for 2013. He plans to bump those another 20 to 30 units. <br><br>“I’m seeing a really big difference by strip-tilling and putting that nitrate and potash in-row underneath corn. It is doing an awesome job,” says Wolf. “I had 60 pounds of test weight corn this year on dryland, after five weeks of really dry weather. I didn’t get any rain when the corn was filling. My irrigated acres did well, too, and the kernels of corn were really big. I attribute a lot of that to the seed-placed potash.”<br><br><b>Visitors impressed</b><br>Wolf broke new ground in 2007 with strip-till in southwest Missouri. In 2011, he became the first in the county to plant fall cover crops. His rotation is wheat-soybeans-corn-corn. County officials who had not seen either cover crops or strip-till came out to see Wolf’s farm, after he made the first claim in the county for cost-share on a cover crop. <br><br>“I had to tell them what I was doing, what my process was for doing the cover crops, and why I was doing it,” says Wolf. “I did about a 50-foot strip of cover crop for them with the Maverick, and then I invited them to just step in that row. It was like I’d worked that ground at least twice with a disk. I’ll never go without a strip-till machine when I’m in row-crop farming."<br></p>Tue, 16 Sep 2014 21:31:27 GMThttp://www.agriculture.com/crops/tillage/strip-till/striptill-encourages-mellow-growing_189-ar45151Farmer Diversifies Knowledge, Chooses No-Tillhttp://www.agriculture.com/crops/tillage/no-till/farmer-diversifies-knowledge-chooses_188-ar42643
<p><p>Northwestern Kansas farmer Michael Thompson gained his ground in agriculture when he was given a unique opportunity to diversify his knowledge and techniques in farming.</p><p>“My dad did the best thing ever for me,” says the Farmers for the Future member. “He had me go work for our neighbors. I learned different management and farming styles, including irrigation, which I knew nothing about due to being a dryland farmer.”</p><p>Starting at the age of 10, he worked for others and saved money so he could purchase his own land when he reached 21. He worked for others and on his own land while going to college full time, graduating in diesel mechanics and then earning teaching and master’s degrees.&nbsp;</p><p>Almost 10 years later, Thompson now works with his father (a full-time farmer) and his younger brother growing wheat, corn, and hay, and raising beef cattle in both Nebraska and Kansas. When he’s not teaching, he farms land he owns and rents.&nbsp;</p><p>Education holds great value in his farming practices.</p><p>“The best thing I learned from my grandfather is that I can never read too much,” he says. “I am an avid reader, and I keep adopting new things on my farm – most notably cover crops and rotational grazing. Both practices grow our farm without us having to buy more land.”</p><p>Reading and seeing numerous perspectives on farming gave Thompson space to form his own opinions rather than simply to accept the practices passed down from his father. He is convinced that no-till is the only way to farm and has no-tilled for seven years.</p><p>Thompson has a bit of advice for other beginning farmers on the network.&nbsp;</p><p>“If you’re on a limited budget, look at getting the most out of the land you farm by soil building instead of trying to buy more and more acres,” he says.&nbsp;</p><p><p><b><span style="font-size: larger; ">Join the network</span></b></p><p>Become a member of Farmers for the Future to share photos, to seek advice, and to interact with other young and beginning farmers. Join the conversation at <a href="http://farmersforthefuture.com">farmersforthefuture.com</a>.</p></p></p>Fri, 04 Apr 2014 18:55:56 GMThttp://www.agriculture.com/crops/tillage/no-till/farmer-diversifies-knowledge-chooses_188-ar426434 Tips for Managing Flooded Fieldshttp://www.agriculture.com/crops/tillage/4-tips-f-maging-flooded-fields_187-ar42465
<p>Last spring was the wettest in 100 years across much of the Midwest, just two years after major flooding in 2011. Coincidence? <br><br>No, wet springs are a confirmed trend. Excessive rainfall events have increased by 30% over the last 50 years, and most of those come in the spring, says Peter Motavalli, crop specialist at the University of Missouri. <br><br>“We deal with saturated or waterlogged fields or parts of fields every year,” he says. He poses this question: What can you do to better manage wet soils? <br><br>The University of Missouri (MU) has a unique research location with the ability to simulate flooded soils. Motavalli and Kelly Nelson, research agronomist at the university’s Greenley experiment farm, conducted a 2013 flooding simulation research trial. Flooding simulations on newly emerged corn included:<br></p><ul><li>One day&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <br></li><li>Three days<br></li><li>Seven days </li></ul><p>The plots were partially submerged in 2 inches of water in mid-June.<br><br><b>Lost N</b><br>One thing the researchers found was that three days of flooding vanished large amounts of nitrogen (N). This clipped yields between 10 and 30 bushels per acre. <br><br>“We put rescue N on after the flood and, somewhat surprisingly, had no real response to the rescue treatment,” says Motavalli. “But it didn’t rain much after we put the rescue N down.”</p><p><br>Still, he says, this work does show that corn has a tremendous tolerance for saturated soils.&nbsp;Even the corn that was flooded for seven days rebounded with yields within about 20 to 25 bushels per acre of unflooded fields.<br><br>“Corn has many adaptive traits,” Motavalli says. “As lower roots die in saturated soils, it will form surface roots to get oxygen. The stems will enlarge, and air channels will form in the roots to get air into the ground. Then you’ll see rapid root regrowth after the flooding.”<br><br>There are four tips to help your crops better cope with very wet conditions. Motavalli thinks you should learn about them, as it looks like the wet-spring pattern will continue. <br><br><b>1. Hybrid Selection</b><br>While there is much publicity about drought-tolerant hybrids, there’s been little research on breeding corn for flood tolerance, he says. <br><br>“We screened some cultivars to see if there were differences, and we found some,” he says. “We took two of the flood-tolerant hybrids to the field in our flood plots.”<br><br>Results are mixed. After seven days of flooding, one of the flood-tolerant hybrids had higher yields than the control hybrid, Motavalli says, by about 20 bushels per acre.<br><br><b>2. Strip-Tillage</b><br>This system involves tilling narrow strips of soil where the corn rows will be planted. Residue and soil are left undisturbed between the 6- to 9-inch-wide strips, which are residue-free. The system is a compromise with no-till. <br><br>“Full no-till can result in wetter, cooler soils,” says Motavalli. “In strip-tillage, the strip dries and warms up faster, and you get better germination and seed emergence. If we plant 24,000 to 26,000 seeds per acre, we get 2,000 to 3,000 more plants per acre with strip-till compared to no-till.”<br><br><b>3. Managed Subsurface Drainage</b><br>This is a relatively new system of tile drainage. In a normal system, tile lines run free with no control of water discharge from a field.<br><br>In the managed system, slider baffles at the tile outlet control water flow. When they are in place, water flow from the field is restricted; when they are removed, it’s unrestricted. <br><br>“In the spring when we have lots of water, we take the sliders out to get as much water as possible out of the field,” says Motavalli. “When it’s dry, we close them to conserve water.”<br><br>It results in reduced nitrate loss by about half, he says. “Subsurface soil drainage gives lots of advantages and a typical yield response of 25% to 35%,” he says. “We see nearly double that response from corn with the managed system.”<br><br><b>4. Precision Agriculture</b><br>Often in a very wet spring, the entire field is not impacted. Rather, flooding occurs in zones. Precision ag lets you manage those areas as needed.<br><br>For instance, polymer-coated urea fertilizer slowly releases N as temperatures warm. If you apply N in potential wet spots of a field, it stays there through a flood episode, then it releases later. <br><br>“In a practical situation, I see applying regular urea in areas not prone to flooding, and flood zones would get the coated product,” says Motavalli. <br><br>Some tests have shown that the yield impact of the polymer-coated seed can be as high as 20 bushels per acre in corn.<br></p>Fri, 21 Mar 2014 17:23:46 GMThttp://www.agriculture.com/crops/tillage/4-tips-f-maging-flooded-fields_187-ar42465Takeaways From Winter Meetingshttp://www.agriculture.com/crops/tillage/conservation-tillage/takeaways-from-winter-meetings_190-ar42343
<p>When harvest season is over, it’s officially farm show season. And convention, conference, and meeting season. All winter long across the country companies, universities, organizations, and other groups host meetings designed to save you money, make you more efficient, increase your yield, and make you a better farmer overall. <br></p><p>There were several common trends I noticed this year after attending a few of these informative meetings. There are two forces (among others) driving these trends: lower commodity prices and the ever-increasing population.<br></p><p>We all knew commodity prices would have to come down at some point, and that time has come. Because of this, there is an increased interest in practices that reduce costs.<br></p><p>Second, at some point during the past few years, you’ve probably heard the looming population prediction: By 2050, we’ll have 9 billion mouths to feed. To achieve this, we’ll not only need innovative practices, we’ll also need to focus on conservation. We only have so much land and so much water. To hit the 9-billion mark, we’ll need to manage both of these precious resources responsibly. For this reason, there was a spike in sessions discussing conservation methods.<br></p><p>Based on this, I saw four trends emerge: reducing tillage, using cover crops, moving away from corn-on-corn acres, and increasing diversity. <br></p><p><b>1. Reducing tillage</b><br>There are multiple ways to cut back costs on the farm. One main way that was discussed repeatedly was reducing tillage. Maybe you’ve increased your corn-after-corn acres because of higher commodity prices the past few years, and to deal with the extra residue you’ve reverted to full-width tillage. Now may be the time to think about moving away from more aggressive tillage. <br></p><p>Reduced tillage saves fuel and reduces tractor horsepower requirements. Not to mention, it’s better for your soil. This could be a move to vertical-tillage, strip-till, or all the way down to no-till.<br></p><p><b>2. Using cover crops</b><br>This has been a hot topic for the past few years, and it’s not losing any momentum. Cover crops reduce wind and soil erosion and increase soil organic matter. The conservation benefits are obvious. The cost benefits are there but are more subtle.<br></p><p>While you will have the extra seed cost plus the costs of planting and killing the crop, cover-crop believers preach that the crops' ability to capture and store nutrients and water for cash crops could also make it a money-saving practice.<br></p><p><b>3. Moving away from corn-on-corn (or corn-after-corn) </b><br>With corn back in the $4 range, it’s no longer the hot commodity it has been for the past few years. For this reason, there could be a decrease in the number of corn-after-corn acres as farmers mix other crops into the rotation. <br></p><p><b>4. Increasing plant diversity</b><br>This is a combination of using cover crops and moving away from corn-on-corn acres or even a corn-soybean rotation. At sessions this winter, Ontario farmer Blake Vince and North Dakota farmer Joe Breker both stress the importance of a diverse crop rotation for soil health, resulting in better long-term yields and profits.<br><br></p>Fri, 14 Mar 2014 16:22:53 GMThttp://www.agriculture.com/crops/tillage/conservation-tillage/takeaways-from-winter-meetings_190-ar42343No-till: A continuing educationhttp://www.agriculture.com/crops/tillage/no-till/notill-a-continuing-education_188-ar42225
<p></p><p>"It’s like being in graduate school.” That’s how Steve Schmidt of Caldwell, Kansas, describes his 16 years of no-till farming. After 17 years of traditional farming, he decided there had to be a better way, and he made the decision to go exclusively no-till in 1997.&nbsp;</p><p>He may have received a degree in agricultural education from Kansas State University, but his education didn’t stop there. He’s taken online classes in agricultural economics, livestock nutrients, and plant physiology. However, a lot of his knowledge about no-till farming has been the result of personal study, experimentation, and experience.</p><img src="http://www.agriculture.com/uploads/assets/promo/external/siteimages/0307notill.jpg" align="left"><p>“During the first year of no-till, water erosion was reduced,” says Schmidt. “In the second year, water erosion was almost eliminated. Microbial activity began to break down the residue, and soil structure improved. By the third year, the benefits of no-till really became obvious as soil health improved. After years of no-till, the soil structure became like a sponge – resilient. Earthworms are more prevalent, and compaction becomes less of an issue.”</p><p><br></p><p><b><span style="font-size: larger; ">Diverse Planting</span></b></p><p>One less obvious advantage of no-till is the ability to grow different crops,” says Schmidt. “My typical three-year crop rotation is cotton, corn, and wheat. Double-crop soybeans or milo are planted in the wheat stubble.&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp; &nbsp;“Cotton, which is actually a tree, has a long taproot that absorbs nutrients from deeper in the soil, and when the roots decompose, those nutrients are available to shallow-rooted plants like corn and wheat,” he says.</p><p>&nbsp; &nbsp;Schmidt dryland farms 2,000 acres, and he usually double-crops 500 to 700 acres.&nbsp;</p><p>“Some people say no-till doesn’t work with certain types of soil, but I have Pratt sands, Elanco silty clay, and silty loam soils,” he says. “Half is bottom ground along Prairie Creek and the rest is upland. No-till works on all of it.”&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><p><b><span style="font-size: larger; ">Nurture Microbes</span></b></p><p>Schmidt also believes livestock is an important part of the crop-rotation program.</p><p>&nbsp; “I pasture 200 head of ewes on wheat (or corn and milo stubble) during the winter and seldom hay them. It’s a cheap way to raise livestock and introduce more microbes into the soil,” he says.&nbsp;</p><p></p><hr id="ht"><p></p><p>Learn More</p><p>Steve Schmidt&nbsp;</p><p>620-845-0204</p><p>slschmidt@kanokla.net</p><p></p>Fri, 07 Mar 2014 20:49:52 GMThttp://www.agriculture.com/crops/tillage/no-till/notill-a-continuing-education_188-ar42225No-till yields as goodhttp://www.agriculture.com/crops/tillage/no-till/notill-yields-as-good_188-ar42216
<p>The key to success at no-till? That would be the planter, contends David Schnoor of Scribner, Nebraska. His assertion is based on 12 years of experience in no-till farming with his brother, Brian, and two sons, Anthony and Randy.<br><br>“The condition of the disk openers is key to a good planter. They should be well maintained and replaced when needed,” Schnoor says. “We also attached after-market scrapers to the disk openers. Our Schlagel closing wheels, with a spider wheel design, have eliminated sidewall compaction. We also replaced the metering system with one manufactured by Precision Planting that allows us to use a mixture of seed sizes.”<br><br>The payoff from having a well-equipped and well-maintained planter is higher yields even in dry conditions like this past summer and especially during 2012. “In 2012, our corn yielded 100 to 120 bushels per acre; the beans yielded 40 bushels, and that’s without any irrigation,” Schnoor says. “Some more conventional farmers around here got little to no yield in 2012.”<br><br><b>Reduced operating costs</b><br>The other payoff to no-till is reduced operating costs. “You don’t need a large four-wheel-drive tractor, and neither do you need to go over the ground as many times, which certainly saves fuel,” Schnoor says. “I’d say 80% to 90% of the farmers around here now use no-till. A few others use minimum tillage.”<br><br>The Schnoor operation runs with a 50/50 corn and soybean rotation. The Schnoors will plant soybeans into corn stubble even with heavy-residue conditions.<br><br><b>Ugly farming?</b><br>Planting beans in corn stubble may not look the best, but it works, he says. “We burn down the cornstalk ground prior to planting and follow up post-emergence with glyphosate. Prior to planting corn, we spray nitrogen, 2,4-D, and a postemergence chemical. Then we follow up with an application of Liberty herbicide. When the corn is knee-high, we broadcast nitrogen” using a pull-type sprayer with an 80-foot boom. <br><br>Recently, Schnoor has been employing Micro-Essentials SZ, a general fertilizer supplied by Central Valley Ag of Snyder, Nebraska. All of the elements in the fertilizer are contained in each granule to provide more uniform coverage of micronutrients. That uniformity is crucial in no-till conditions.<br><br><b>Expanded into cattle feeding</b><br>Schnoor also feeds cattle and has recently expanded that operation with the purchase of a commercial feedlot. This allows him to boost numbers from feeding 550 head to about 2,000 during the past year. <br><br>Some farmers may find it difficult to make the adjustment to no-till farming, but Schnoor has made an even greater adjustment. <br><br>After 20 years of service, he retired from the Air Force where he was a combat controller. Schnoor went from a high-intensity setting to sitting on a lonely tractor seat, but he says he enjoys the solitude.<br></p>Fri, 07 Mar 2014 19:49:00 GMThttp://www.agriculture.com/crops/tillage/no-till/notill-yields-as-good_188-ar42216A refresher course in strip tillhttp://www.agriculture.com/crops/tillage/strip-till/a-refresher-course-in-strip-till_189-ar41572
<p><p>Brian Clark and his brothers have been sold on strip-till since they started using it in the late 1980s. In fact, while some producers limit strip-till to corn on bean stubble, these Illinois farmers have been using a pair of machines in the fall following both corn and soybean harvest. &nbsp;</p><p>For corn-on-corn ground, they depend on an eight-row Orthman 1tRIPr strip-till machine with the rolling baskets removed that they run at a depth of 10 to 11 inches in an attempt to remove all of the residue from the strip. For corn on soybean ground, they use a 16-row CFS/Westlake bar equipped with a mole knife and covering disks at a working depth of 8 inches.</p><p><b><span style="font-size: larger; ">Three strip-till issues</span></b></p><p>Unfortunately, prior to 2012, the brothers found themselves tearing up strips due to heavy rains that caused inversion and made strips too hard to plant. To make matters worse, when they did have to run the field cultivator to tear up poor strips, they were often left with clods, root-balls, and wheel tracks in the seedbed.&nbsp;</p><p>“We’ve never been a fan of tillage if it was not necessary,” says Clark. “When we went from no-till to strip-till, it was like night and day on our heavier soil types,” he continues, noting that they had to go back to minimum tillage on the majority of corn-on-corn acres due to heavier residue and inconsistent condition of the strips.</p><p>Clark says they also experienced difficulty keeping their 16-row planter on strips made with the eight-row bar. The combination of all three factors, he insists, led to yield losses that had to be addressed.</p><p><b><span style="font-size: larger; ">The refresher</span></b></p><p>Now, after two years of side-by-side field trials – one of those being a wet year and the other an extremely dry year – Clark believes he has addressed all three issues that plagued their corn-on-corn strip-till program with a shop-built tool he calls a strip refresher.</p><p>As Clark explains, the refresher unit actually started life as a 16-row, three-point mounted cultivator.&nbsp;</p><p>The first step was cutting a section out of the bar and shifting everything over so the row units would run on the row, rather than between them, as a cultivator would.</p><p>Next, Clark salvaged coulters from an old fertilizer rig, along with an old drill coulter cart. These were mounted on the main bar as lead coulters – one at the front of each row. Each large coulter was followed by a pair of smaller, wavy coulters that were designed to run on a slight angle to lift and fluff and to rebuild the strip. Those, in turn, were followed by a pair of Yetter depth-band row cleaners to maintain the 2-inch working depth.&nbsp;</p><p>Each row unit features a rolling basket that leaves a perfect 10-inch-wide seedbed that easily matches the 16-row planter.</p><p>“Last year was the second year we used the strip refresher, and it has worked great both years,” says Clark. “We generally run it between 11 and 13 mph, using very little fuel in the process. In 2011, we ran it over all of our strip-till ground just to dry and warm the soil.”&nbsp;</p><p>On the other hand, they only refreshed their corn-on-corn strips in 2012, due to the dry weather. Yet, their corn-on-corn strips yielded the same or better than the minimum-till fields in both years. Clark insists that both years also saw better strip-till plant health in the side-by-side trials.</p><p>In future years, Clark wants to try the refresher on the remainder of the minimum-till ground to work strips instead of using the field cultivator. He hopes to save moisture and fuel, as well as valuable time.</p></p>Mon, 03 Feb 2014 17:07:51 GMThttp://www.agriculture.com/crops/tillage/strip-till/a-refresher-course-in-strip-till_189-ar41572Winning combo: No-till & cover cropshttp://www.agriculture.com/crops/tillage/no-till/winning-combo-notill-cover-crops_188-sl32967
A group of farmers saw the latest in cover crops in no-till systems on a recent tour.Thu, 15 Aug 2013 13:59:44 GMThttp://www.agriculture.com/crops/tillage/no-till/winning-combo-notill-cover-crops_188-sl32967Record-Breaking No-Till Conferencehttp://www.agriculture.com/crops/tillage/no-till/recdbreaking-notill-conference_188-ar29094
<p>Last week, I went to the 21st Annual National No-Till Conference. With a record-breaking attendance of 1,153 farmers, it is clear that no-till farming is growing stronger. Here are a few of the hot topics that were covered at this year’s conference, with more in-depth articles to come in <i>Successful Farming</i> magazine.<br><br><b>Soil Health</b><br>Again and again no-till believers preached the importance of having healthy soil. While this is a complex topic, the gist of it is simple. According to Dan Towery from Ag Conservation Solutions, to improve your soil health you need to minimize soil disturbance, have a permanent soil cover, and use a diverse crop rotation and/or cover crops.<br><br><b>Cover Crops</b><br>A little bit of sunn hemp, a lot of rye, and a plethora of results. Farmers and soil specialists shared how the use of cover crops in a no-till system can help improve soil quality, reduce erosion, fight pests, conserve soil moisture, recycle nutrients, and ultimately give you a better yield.<br><br><b>Managing Residue</b><br>A good future yield for no-tillers starts with the current crop’s harvest. No-till farmers have to manage residue at harvest to control variability for the next planting season. Residue needs to be spread evenly to help ensure uniform seed placement and equal distribution of nutrients. <br><br><b>Extreme Weather</b><br>Climate models predict we will continue to have less rain during the growing season but more days with heavy rain. Because no-till fields are better prepared to absorb water, these fields will be able to capture water outside of the growing season and keep it for when crops need it. These fields will also be able to soak up heavy rains that could cause erosion in other fields.<br><br><b>Technology</b><br>Here are a few of the new tech tools farmers are using. The Midwest Cover Crops Council (MCCC) <a href="http://mcccdev.anr.msu.edu/VertIndex.php">cover crop decision tool</a> helps you choose ideal cover crops based on your location, cash crops, planting dates, and your end goal. Extend the functionality of your 20/20 SeedSense monitor with <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/fieldview/id489885110?mt=8">FieldView</a> from Precision Planting. FieldView functions as a second display in your cab so you can view real-time, row-by-row maps of your planter’s performance. New from TeeJet, the <a href="http://www.teejet.com/english/home/products/spray-products/sprayselect-tip-selection-app.aspx">SpraySelect Tip Selection App</a> selects the proper sprayer tip for your application based on speed, spacing, target rate, and droplet size.<br><br></p>Fri, 18 Jan 2013 17:54:54 GMThttp://www.agriculture.com/crops/tillage/no-till/recdbreaking-notill-conference_188-ar29094Tips for trying no-tillhttp://www.agriculture.com/crops/tillage/no-till/tips-f-trying-notill_188-ar27210
<p><p>Some of the favorite conversations on the Farmers For The Future network are those where a young or beginning farmer is wanting to make a change in an existing operation and the community provides honest advice based on personal experience. That is the case with Marlin Gloor of Charlotte, Michigan. He is considering changing tillage practices, and he seeks guidance from the social network.</p><p>“I would like to start converting to no-till,” he says. “What is the best way to prepare the soil? The ground is slightly sloped and mostly loam.”</p><p><ul><li><b><a href="http://farmersforthefuture.ning.com/">Join the Farmers for the Future Network!</a></b></li></ul></p><p>Network member Mike Hannewald offers his thoughts, advising to first evaluate the farm's drainage ability. “Do you need to add tile or surface drainage of some type?” he asks. “We have tried some no-till on our farm (in northwest Ohio) and have found that in a wet year, no-till doesn't work very well if we don't have adequate drainage.”</p><p>Second, he says, is to evaluate the farm's current fertility levels. “One of the best investments you can make is to soil-sample and add lime if needed. Just make sure that, in addition to adding lime based on pH, you are also taking into consideration your calcium and magnesium levels. Different kinds of lime have different calcium and magnesium levels, and applying the wrong type of lime can do more harm than good. That's because the calcium-magnesium ratio is just as important as pH when it comes to maximizing nutrient availability. While you can apply lime anytime, I would recommend working it in before beginning no-till, because doing so will help it become effective in a shorter period of time.”</p><p>“The easiest thing to do is sell your tillage equipment,” says discussion group contributor Abram V. “Buy a good no-till drill. Plant some cover crops when you can in the fall.”</p><p>“All great suggestions,” adds John Dobberstein. “You want to get the soil prepared ahead of time, because the best no-till systems have the least amount of soil disturbance possible. The best advice I can pass along is to talk to other no-tillers. You can learn from their trials and tribulations.</p></p>Thu, 01 Nov 2012 15:53:21 GMThttp://www.agriculture.com/crops/tillage/no-till/tips-f-trying-notill_188-ar27210Prepping soils for the 2013 crophttp://www.agriculture.com/crops/tillage/prepping-soils-f-2013-crop_187-ar26002
<p>Once you get this fall's crop in the bin, the drought of 2012 will be behind you, right? Wrong.</p><p>How you handle your fields after harvest this fall and next spring before planting your 2013 crop will go a long way to determining how well your farm bounces back from the drought, says University of Illinois Extension agronomist Emerson Nafziger. </p><p>Prior to planting this year's crop, many farmers who conduct tillage were able to do so in drier soils, meaning there weren't as many incidents of compaction. So, the soil was in better shape going into the growing season. Then, the water turned off. So now, if you're planning on conducting any fall tillage, make sure you're matching your implement to your field conditions.</p><p>"Expect soils to be mellower than normal during fall tillage and match the tillage operation, if any is needed, to this condition," Nafziger says in a university report. "That includes paying attention to how much residue is being left on the surface."</p><p>And, don't just be willing to adjust your tillage operations, but also their timing. If your soils are too dry, trying to till them now won't do you much good and, in fact, can put you in a worse spot, farmers say.</p><p>"We will probably need to wait until we get some moisture so we can pull the chisel through [the soil]. Just try to take a spade to the ground," says Agriculture.com Crop Talk contributor <i>jc217</i>. "It will just bounce off the surface like you are digging concrete. Chiseling it before we get some rain will just wear the points excessively fast and leave large chunks of dirt behind the chisel."</p><p>But, do you depend on fall tillage for other reasons? Spring's too jam-packed for Crop Talk frequent contributor <i>infire</i>, so he's hoping enough moisture comes along between now and winter to allow him to make at least one tillage pass.</p><p>"My problem with skipping fall tillage is how to handle it in the spring," he says. "I have about 5 hours in the spring where bean stubble works nice with the finisher, then it's too hard, and before that, it's way too wet."</p><ul><li><b><big><a href="http://community.agriculture.com/t5/Crop-Talk/Fall-Tillage/td-p/226713">Crop Talk: Fall tillage </a></big></b></li></ul><p>Another consideration moving into the 2013 crop will be the differences in nutrient management. Though many farmers applied full rates of fertilizer this past spring, the drought prevented those nutrients from being taken up by stunted corn plants. So, chances are, some of those nutrients are still in the soil. Make sure you get a clear picture of your nutrient profile before you make any decisions, like starting a cover crop or going with a different crop rotation for the sake of preserving soil fertility.</p><p>"Some producers are considering wheat as a follow crop for corn in dry areas. In some cases, wheat (or rye) might also be used as a cover crop to take up some of the nitrogen left in the soil," according to a university report. "Although having some of the leftover soil nitrogen stay in a (grass) cover crop for a subsequent corn crop may seem to be a good way to recycle nitrogen, allowing rye or wheat cover crops to grow into the spring can interfere with establishing the corn crop, especially if it is to be planted in early April. Managing a grass cover crop to establish soybeans might be easier, although wet soils and a heavy cover-crop residue can present challenges for any crop that follows a cover crop."</p><p>So, what's the right rate to apply? A lot depends on the residual nitrates left by this year's corn, and that depends a lot on the amount of drought damage that crop incurred, says Iowa State University Extension agronomist John Sawyer.</p><p>"As a conservative approach, a minimum rate recommendation of 50 lb N/acre should be considered. If fall/spring precipitation is well above normal, then the carryover nitrate would not be likely, especially in soils with high leaching potential," he says. "Sandy soils are not likely to retain carryover nitrate."</p><p>Crop Talk frequent contributor <i>buckfarmer </i>says he expects a cover crop will help keep a good nutrient base on his farm, though.</p><p>"I'm planting more cover crops to capture more N. We have quite a few warm days through the winter here in southern Ohio and I'm always afraid we lose lots on N," he says. "First noticed this when I would get no yield increase after beans."</p><p>His eye on the sky is a good benchmark, adds Nafziger: "While we know there is some nitrogen left in dry soils now, the amount available to next year’s crop will depend on the weather between now and next spring."</p><ul><li><b><big><a href="http://community.agriculture.com/t5/Crop-Talk/Nitrogen-carryover-for-next-year/td-p/230855">Crop Talk: Nitrogen carryover for next year </a></big></b></li></ul><p>One bright spot heading into fall, especially if you're looking to conduct tillage before winter rolls in, is the current state of any corn residue in your fields now, or that will be left after you run the combine. Because of this summer's drought, a lot of corn fields suffered from a shortage of lignin, a major contributor of the strength and rigidity of corn stalks. And, the less lignin in the field, the softer the residue, making it easier to till, Nafziger says. </p><p>All these factors -- tillage opportunities, nutrient carryover and remaining crop residue -- should contribute to your crop management and, ultimately, planting decisions between now and next spring, he adds.</p><p>"This is not a suggestion to plant more corn and fewer soybean acres next year following this year's corn crop," Nafziger says. "Corn following corn is showing more stress effects again this year, in some areas for a third year in a row. Even though a field with a short corn crop this year may be more 'corn-friendly' than normal next year, it is unlikely that corn following a corn crop -- even a low-yielding one – will yield more than corn following soybean."</p>Thu, 23 Aug 2012 20:38:35 GMThttp://www.agriculture.com/crops/tillage/prepping-soils-f-2013-crop_187-ar26002No-till links farmers to local consumershttp://www.agriculture.com/crops/tillage/no-till/notill-links-farmers-to-local-consumers_188-ar22296
<p>What do you get when you combine direct seed-production methods with a movement to eat more locally? The result is a marketing strategy that's paying off for a group of farmers in the Palouse region of northern Idaho and eastern Washington.</p><p><br>Farmers who are part of Shepherd's Grain produce wheat using direct seed or no-till production systems. A portion of each farm's production is milled into flour and sold directly to Pacific Northwest artisan bread makers and other end users.</p><p><br>“It's changing the way we produce wheat and changing the way we market it,” says Karl Kupers, a Harrington, Washington, farmer and one of the founders of Shepherd's Grain. “We are building a brand to tell the no-till story and to enhance the economics of no-till.”</p><p><br>Although roughly half of the 2 million acres of farm ground in the Palouse have a slope of 8% to 30%, no-till adoption is not that high. In high rainfall years, like the spring of 2011, county roads can be buried by soil washing off of conventionally tilled fields. Yet some farmers are reluctant to adopt direct seed methods because of concerns about potential yield losses and the cost of equipment.</p><p><br>Even though Shepherd's Grain can't do anything about new no-till drill costs, the farmers involved set the price of flour to cover their production costs. The price is good for one year, and buyers are given a six-month notice before it changes. It's not exactly the premium many growers would like to receive to change agronomic practices or varieties, but it provides certainty to both buyers and sellers.</p><p><br>For Ben Davis, knowing what the flour price will be for the next 12 months is crucial to developing a business plan in today's economy. Davis is co-owner and president of Grand Central Bakery with nine locations in Portland and Seattle.</p><p><br>He provided bakers and ovens to test the first flours produced by Shepherd's Grain in the early 2000s, but he chose not to become a buyer at that time. Bakers relied on precise formulas and processes to make the hand-formed artisan loaves and didn't want to gamble on flours that varied from mill run to mill run.</p><p><br>“We knew how to make bread our way,” Davis says of those early days. “Since then, we have become better bakers. We are more confident with exploring different flours, different proteins, different water contents, and different prefermentation processes.”</p><p><br>But the impetus to give Shepherd's Grain another chance came in 2008 when the price of flour skyrocketed. “We are willing to pay a little more for the flour because our costs are known,” he says.<br><br></p><p>The decision also matches the bakery's commitment to purchase around half of the ingredients from local farmers. Davis believes his customers also want to know their food's source, so he includes a list of farmers along with the Shepherd's Grain story on the bakery's website.</p><p><br><b>Eating locally</b><br>The locovore movement has caught on in recent years, but Kupers saw potential as early as the late 1990s in a local cooperative market in the Puget Sound, Washington, area. He was intrigued by barrels of whole wheat kernels in the bulk aisle. He read the lengthy product descriptions and talked with shoppers about what they liked.</p><p><br>“Everything we do in the no-till system was what they said they wanted from food production. We just needed to learn to speak their language,” Kupers says.</p><p><br>Picking up the lingo wasn't as difficult as figuring out which varieties would both yield well and make great bread.</p><p><br>Russ Zenner was one of the first growers to sell wheat through Shepherd's Grain. He markets between 15% and 20% of his production annually through Shepherd's Grain.</p><p><br>While he appreciates the diversity in his marketing plan that Shepherd's Grain brings, it's the contact between buyer and seller that he values the most. Each year, growers host chefs, bakers, and food service representatives from the Portland and Seattle areas at their farms.</p><p><br>“Meeting people in the food industry who have a similar passion for their business like we do for ours has been one of the fun things in this whole Shepherd's Grain endeavor,” he says.</p><p><br>Davis agrees. “It's the connection with people producing your food that makes the business fun,” he says. “If you have an intimate knowledge of the producers and how the food was grown, then you can turn great wheat into great bread or great vegetables into great soup.”</p><p><br>Zenner is asked why the group chose to focus on sustainable production practices, most notably direct seed, rather than organic.<br><br></p><p>Ideally, both would be best, Zenner says, but they haven't figured out how to control weeds and diseases organically. More rotational diversification would help, but that has proven to be more difficult than picking up the lingo of the local foods movement.</p><p><br>Kupers researched growing and selling crops such as sunflowers, millet, and buckwheat through Shepherd's Grain, but it became apparent customers trusted them to raise wheat, not sunflowers.</p><p><br>“Rightly so,” Kupers admits. “We are not a traditional sunflower-growing region.”</p><p><br>Another problem was processing facilities for crops other than wheat in the Palouse are hard to find.</p><p><br>“You don't realize what a monocrop system the Palouse is until you start looking for processing facilities for other crops,” Kupers says.<br>Yet within the monocrop culture of wheat, growers have introduced some diversity by growing several different wheat classes, including dark northern spring and soft white wheat. Different wheat classes are blended to make five different kinds of flours. Wheat is milled in small batches throughout the year to meet consumer demand.</p><p><br>Recruiting growers from a wide geographic area representing different rainfall patterns and elevation helps spread weather risks. But Shepherd's Grain has also been careful not to expand the grower base until after demand dictates growth.</p><p><br>After sticking with the same 33 growers for the last three years or so, Shepherd's Grain expanded to 43 in 2011. Growers pledge production after harvest. The limited liability corporation accepts grain until it reaches the inventory level that can be marketed in the coming year at the price it sets.</p><p><br>“Basically we have decommodized wheat,” Kupers says. “We're not commodity producers; we're food producers.”</p>Thu, 16 Feb 2012 21:04:35 GMThttp://www.agriculture.com/crops/tillage/no-till/notill-links-farmers-to-local-consumers_188-ar22296No-tilling in heavy residuehttp://www.agriculture.com/crops/tillage/no-till/notilling-in-heavy-residue_188-ar21884
<p><p>Paul Jasa just can't get enough corn residue. The University of Nebraska engineer and longtime (over 30 years) no-till advocate views the increase in residue from higher populations, corn-on-corn, and Bt varieties' resistance to breakdown as blessings. “I can show you a picture where I planted soybeans into 220-bushel corn residue,” Jasa points out. “The soybeans are coming up, and there's no residue left. It's gone. We are looking for ways to get more residue out in fields because the corn residue breaks down too fast.”</p><p>That is why researchers like Jasa and Richard Wolkowski, University of Wisconsin engineer, advise against flail or rotary chopping corn residue in the fall. “Stalks deteriorate more rapidly left standing in the field,” Wolkowski says. “Plus, chopping can leave a mat of residue that may keep a no-till surface wetter and colder in the spring, whereas unchopped residue remains upright, allowing for better air circulation and drying.”</p><p>Wolkowski and a University of Wisconsin research team have conducted field studies comparing no-till to chisel fields in continuous corn. That research found, for example, that chopping stalks followed by chisel-plowing did reduce surface residues from 61% down to 42%, on average. But that treatment did not affect the early-season soil temperature, emergence rate, final stand, early-season plant height, or corn grain yield.</p><p>“We compared this to no-tilling in which we used finger coulters to remove residue ahead of the double-disc openers,” Wolkowski says. “What we have seen so far is that no-till performs very well (without an additional treatment such as chopping). If it's done properly and if other things (such as fertility, weed, pest, and traffic management) are taken care of appropriately, I think a no-till system performs very well in heavy residue in corn-on-corn.”</p><p><b>Residue manager selection</b></p><p>When it comes to residue managers on planters, Phil Needham of Needham Ag Technologies prefers floating row cleaners. “Years ago, fixed row cleaners rigidly mounted to the planter unit were the thing to use. Most farmers now buy a floating row cleaner, which has a pivot point on it that allows it to float up and down with the contours of the ground and remove residue consistently,” Needham says. “Some say that's a kind of strip-till. I don't think it is because there's no prior tillage.”</p><p>The bottom line is residue managers allow you to part the residue and plant at a consistent depth, Needham says.</p><p>Nebraska's Jasa says residue management in no-till begins at harvest. “In the early days of zero tillage, I liked to run the corn head about 6 to 8 inches off the ground so I'd get all the residue processed through the snapping roll,” Jasa recalls. “Now, I run the corn head 18 to 24 inches high. That way, more corn is standing up and not touching soil microbes. Corn hangs around longer for me in the spring. The standing residue catches snow rather than letting it blow away. It also keeps the sun and wind off the soil surface to conserve soil moisture.”</p><p>A big part of no-till is heavy residue planter adjustment, Wolkowski says. “Is your planter properly set up for the type of residue you're going to be working in? Is it heavy enough to penetrate?” he asks. “Also, is there some form of in-row residue management that moves residue aside? Or you might consider parallel fluted disks that are doing a little shallow tillage to loosen the soil to get better seed-to-soil contact, more uniform depth, good coverage, and less hair-pinning.”</p><hr id="ht"><p><b>Learn more</b></p><p>● Paul Jasa | pjasa1@unl.edu</p><p>● Richard Wolkowski| rpwolkow@wisc.edu</p><p>● Phil Needham | phil@needhamag.com</p></p>Mon, 30 Jan 2012 19:50:59 GMThttp://www.agriculture.com/crops/tillage/no-till/notilling-in-heavy-residue_188-ar21884Ruts in your field can be costlyhttp://www.agriculture.com/crops/tillage/ruts-in-your-field-c-be-costly_187-ar20878
<p>Got ruts?</p><p>Whether from a wet spring or soggy fall, if your fields are full of ruts, it could cost you either lost production or a chunk off your bottom line to smooth things out, according to a Pennsylvania State University Extension soil management specialist.</p><p>Smoothing out serious ruts in a field typically requires at least an extra pass of disk/chiseling, says Sjoerd Duiker. And, that will likely run around $15/acre, according to an Iowa State University Extension custom farm rate survey. </p><p>"So if 25% of a field were rutted and production in those areas reduced by 10%, that would mean a 2.5% yield loss," Duiker says. "At 200 bushels/acre and corn at $6.00/bushel, that would be $30 lost/acre. So perhaps $50 cost per acre for rutting is not unrealistic."</p><ul style="font-weight: bold;"><li><big><a href="http://community.agriculture.com/t5/Machinery-Talk/The-cost-of-ruts-in-your-field/td-p/139789">Talk: The cost of ruts </a></big><br></li><li><big><a href="http://www.extension.iastate.edu/agdm/crops/pdf/a3-10.pdf">See more: 2011 Iowa Farm Custom Rate Survey </a></big></li></ul><p>Research conducted by University of Minnesota specialists last fall and earlier this year show a consisten 17% yield drag in corn when ruts are left remaining in the field. "There was the same number of ears gathered (same population), but the differences in ear length, diameter and kernel fill were easy to see," says University of Minnesota Extension specialist Jodi DeJong-Hughes.</p>Mon, 28 Nov 2011 19:33:40 GMThttp://www.agriculture.com/crops/tillage/ruts-in-your-field-c-be-costly_187-ar20878Wealth in wetlandshttp://www.agriculture.com/crops/tillage/conservation-tillage/wealth-in-wetls_190-sl20323
One of the largest wetlands protection efforts on U.S. private land occurred in Greene County, Indiana.Tue, 01 Nov 2011 19:41:17 GMThttp://www.agriculture.com/crops/tillage/conservation-tillage/wealth-in-wetls_190-sl20323Buffer strips perform well in new studyhttp://www.agriculture.com/crops/tillage/conservation-tillage/buffer-strips-perfm-well-in-new-study_190-ar20147
<p>A new take on a fairly common conservation practice can do a lot more than previously thought to control nutrient runoff in crop fields, according to new research in Iowa.</p><p>A project testing the viability of riparian buffer strips to remove nutrients from crop runoff water was conducted this growing season by the Ames, Iowa-based Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture. The main target for the research was a 1,000-foot stretch of Bear Creek in Story County, Iowa, where a "saturated buffer" was installed to catch tile-line water before it's released into waterways. </p><p>The system uses "a shallow lateral line" that "has control structures that raise the water table and slow outflow, allowing the buffers to naturally remove nutrients such as nitrate and phosphorous."</p><p>The results: In addition to curbing over half of the immediate tile line outflow into waterways, it removes all of the nitrate output, says USDA National Laboratory for Agriculture and the Environment and lead researcher for the project Dale Jaynes. </p><p>"The system removed 100% of the nitrate from 60% of the field tile flow,” Jaynes says. "We figure that 250 kilograms, or about 500 pounds, of nitrate nitrogen was kept out of the stream."</p><p>The future of this type of runoff water control, which Jaynes says he originally expected to divert just 10% to 15% of field tile runoff water, has a lot of promise in the right situations.</p><p>"You would need a lot of these at different points along a stream to make a difference in water quality, but this is a start," Jaynes says. "This is a technology that many people definitely are interested in, and in having more information about how they work."</p><ul style="font-weight: bold;"><li><big><a href="http://www.leopold.iastate.edu/news/10-20-2011/new-water-quality-practice-offers-first-year-surprises">More about this conservation practice </a></big></li></ul>Tue, 25 Oct 2011 18:04:05 GMThttp://www.agriculture.com/crops/tillage/conservation-tillage/buffer-strips-perfm-well-in-new-study_190-ar20147Ways with Residuehttp://www.agriculture.com/crops/tillage/no-till/ways-with-residue_188-ar15524
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial">Crop residue is as good as
gold. The more there is, the bigger the bank of stored fertility.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; ">“If we can get that residue
to break down by natural processes, the nutrients going back into the soil will
feed a crop in the future,” says Bill Kuehn, who farms with his wife, Laurie,
near Turtle Lake, North Dakota.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; ">The Kuehns no-till spring
wheat, durum wheat, winter wheat, corn, canola, peas, and flax. Managing
residue from those crops helps reap future fertility, soil quality, moisture
savings, and wind and water conservation benefits.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; ">“Of all the crops, cereal
grains present the greatest challenge to managing residue,” says Cal Hoff, a
Richardton, North Dakota, no-tiller who farms with his wife, Julie, and son,
Casey.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; ">However, the challenge is limited
mainly to the year the residue was produced. In mature no-till systems, the
increasing soil biological activity accelerates residue breakdown.&nbsp; “As
the health of our soil improves, the soil microbes help the residue to
disappear more quickly,” says Hoff.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; ">Here are five practices they
and Greg Endres, Extension agronomist at the North Dakota State University
Carrington Research Extension Center, use to mange no-till residue.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; ">1. Leave tall residue</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial">In fact, the taller the
better. “Especially with wheat and corn residue, the more of it that can be
left standing, the easier it is to plant the next crop,” says Endres.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; ">The taller the stubble, the
less crop aftermath to be spread by the combine’s chopper. This lowers the
chance of excess residue sealing the ground surface and keeping it cold and
wet.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; ">“Such conditions make it
hard to get a crop off to a good start the next spring,” says Endres.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; ">Bill Kuehn’s present
knife-opener seeding system handles wheat stubble of 12 inches and canola
stubble of 2 feet.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; ">2. Spread finely cut straw
and chaff evenly &nbsp;&nbsp;</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial">This promotes an even stand
in next year’s crop. “Our goal is to spread straw and chaff in a pattern that’s
as wide as the combine header,” says Kuehn.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; ">Uneven crop emergence
results when some areas of the field are covered by less residue than others.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; ">“The residue holds the
moisture in the soil and keeps it cool. Those areas that didn’t get straw
spread across them tend to warm up faster, causing faster germination and crop
emergence,” adds Kuehn.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; ">Kuehn faults his present
harvesting system because his combine’s fine-cut chopper does not spread as
wide as the combine’s 36-foot header. When he trades machines, he may go back
to a 30-foot header to try to better match spreading and cutting capability.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; ">“There are machines that
will take a 39-foot cut and spread in a 39-foot pattern,” he adds.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; ">Cal Hoff’s newest combine
cuts and spreads in a balanced pattern. He modified choppers on older combine
models to do the same.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; ">“We have our local machinist
reinforce the choppers with added weight and balance them,” says Hoff. “Most of
the time, that lets the combine spread in a pattern as wide as the header.”</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; ">3. Eliminate harrowing of
standing stubble</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial">Thinking that harrowing
would best handle the residue from a bumper crop of durum, Kuehn harrowed 300
acres in the spring of 2008. But the harrowing caused its own problems. During
planting, the seeder’s knife openers tended to rake up and bunch the bent-over
straw.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; ">“When we leave the stubble
standing and attached to the soil,” he says, “the shanks on our seeder slide by
the stubble better than if the material is bent over or lying on the ground.”</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; ">Seed in a pattern that
offsets the previous crop Seeding at an angle or slightly offset to the
previous crop row helps seed openers pass more easily through standing stubble.
Kuehn expects his recently installed GPS systems on the combine and tractors
will help with this practice.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; ">“We’ll be able to seed
through a lot taller stubble,” he says.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; ">4. Be a patient seeder</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial">Studying soil and residue
conditions at seeding is key. This can halt seeder plugging.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial">“Waiting until it’s dry
enough in the morning” to seed is one way Hoff helps his seeder deal with
residue. After the residue dries off from the morning dew, the 22-inch blades
on his disk-opener seeder cut right through the straw instead of just bending
it.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial">5. Boost crop diversity</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; ">A diverse crop mix also
plays a vital role in successfully managing residue under no-till.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial">“Diversity and a good
rotation are key to building soil health,” says Cal Hoff, a Richardton, North
Dakota, no-tiller.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; ">“Once that soil health
starts building, the risk of having too much surface residue is reduced because
the soil microbes break it down,” he adds.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; ">Hoff has observed this
benefit occurring in wheat. “Our wheat yields have increased, but the straw
residue carried over from year to year has not,” he says. “There’s no question,
healthy soil will absorb residue.”</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; "><b>A little bit of everything</b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial">Hoff’s crops include wheat,
oats, corn, flax, and sometimes peas and canola. He has also planted radishes
as a cover crop. His typical rotation comprises two types of cool-season crops
grown in consecutive years, followed by two years of two kinds of broadleaf crops.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; ">“But we don’t always stick
to that sequence,” he says. “We will mix it up because Mother Nature can always
figure out predictable patterns and catch up to you.”</span></p>
<!--EndFragment-->
Mon, 21 Mar 2011 16:17:42 GMThttp://www.agriculture.com/crops/tillage/no-till/ways-with-residue_188-ar15524Close it uphttp://www.agriculture.com/crops/tillage/no-till/close-it-up_188-ar15431
<p><p>Are you in need of a closing wheel that can adapt to varying field conditions? South Dakota farmer-inventor Danny Wipf was.</p><p>“I was looking for a wheel that would work in all field conditions — like wheat stubble, bean stubble, and corn stubble. Wet, dry, high ground, low ground, no-till, minimum-till, conventional-till, and so on,” says Wipf.</p><p>But finding such a tool proved challenging. So he made his own.</p><p>What evolved was the patented poly Pro-Stitch closing wheel, which features a blunt-tooth design for built-in depth control and industrial poly construction.</p><p><b>Better Performance</b></p><p>Not only does the device reduce sidewall compaction, but also it tucks soil firmly against seed, leaves soil loose on top (to increase emergence), and closes up the slot.</p><p>It works in all soil conditions from no-till to conventional-till, and the company says it will increase your crop yields with quicker growing, healthier plants.</p><p>“The Pro-Stitch closing wheel gives better performance by closing the slot, reducing sidewall compaction, and promoting soil-to-seed contact to give your crop an even, quicker emergence in all conditions,” says Wipf.</p><p>In the works for seven years, Wipf says the biggest reward has been building a product that performs in all tillage practices. But it hasn't come without challenges.</p><p>“The biggest challenge was perfecting the stitch effect,” Wipf says.</p><p><b>Reporting The Results</b></p><p>Maurice, Iowa, farmer Howard Vlieger started using the Pro-Stitch closing wheels in the spring of 2008.</p><p>“I put a set of Pro-Stitch closing wheels on one 12-row planter in the spring of 2008. I also put the Pro-Stitch closing wheels on one end row of another 12-row planter. The planter with only one Pro-Stitch row was used in both tilled and no-till ground. When the planter turned right to plant back across the field, there would be two rows that had the Pro-Stitch closing wheels side by side,” says Vlieger.</p><p>In August, he began noticing two darker colored green rows of beans in the field where he had planted with one row.</p><p>“With some investigating, I realized that the two darker rows were the rows with the Pro-Stitch closing wheels. The beans in those two rows were taller and had more pods on them. I saw this effect in every field where I planted this variety of soybean,” he notes.</p><p>Weighing three replicated strips of the two rows in the one field where he harvested the soybeans, the beans planted with the Pro-Stitch closing wheels made an average of 2 bushels more per acre.</p><p>“I am very happy with the Pro-Stitch closing wheels and won't plant without them,” says Vlieger.</p><p>Depending on your type of planter, prices start at $210 per row. Pro-Stitch closing wheels are compatible with John Deere, Case IH, Kinze, or White planters.</p><p>Wheels are available directly through Lake View Manufacturing, which is located by Lake Andes, South Dakota. To order or learn more about the wheels, call 605/999-3503.</p></p>Thu, 17 Mar 2011 14:00:07 GMThttp://www.agriculture.com/crops/tillage/no-till/close-it-up_188-ar15431Looking for ways to cut emissionshttp://www.agriculture.com/crops/tillage/looking-f-ways-to-cut-emissions_187-ar15384
<p><p>Curbing greenhouse gas emissions from cultivated fields may require going beyond cutting back on nitrogen fertilizer and changing crop rotation cycles, according to research by Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists.</p><p>Jane Johnson, a soil scientist at the ARS North Central Soil Conservation Research Laboratory in Morris, Minnesota, is looking for practical ways to keep carbon in the soil and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.</p><p>In a comprehensive study, she raised corn, soybeans, wheat, and alfalfa in rotation so that each crop grew in the same year on plots treated with and without fertilizer. She also used a less-aggressive tillage system known as strip tillage, in which only narrow bands of soil are tilled instead of an entire field.</p><p>For comparison, she replicated the cropping system used by many Minnesota farmers: raising corn and soybeans in a two-year cycle on fertilized plots tilled with a chisel or moldboard plow.</p><p>She used a hydraulic soil probe to measure the organic carbon sequestered in the soil and closed-vented chambers to measure emissions of carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide.</p><p>She found that, when measured over the course of a year, greenhouse gas releases were largely the same under two-year and four-year rotation systems, and that applying nitrogen fertilizer had less overall impact than anticipated on nitrous oxide emissions. Nitrous oxide emissions peaked during spring thaws when the sun warmed the soil, regardless of which tillage or rotation system was used.</p><p>Chisel and moldboard plowing increased carbon dioxide emissions for a short time. But measured over the course of a year, carbon dioxide emissions were no different from plots with intensive tillage than plots without it. She also found no consistent patterns to methane releases.</p><p>Johnson's work is part of a five-year ARS project known as GRACEnet (Greenhouse Gas Reduction Through Agricultural Carbon Enhancement Network) in which researchers at more than 32 sites are examining strategies to help reduce agriculture's climate change footprint.</p></p>Tue, 15 Mar 2011 19:45:38 GMThttp://www.agriculture.com/crops/tillage/looking-f-ways-to-cut-emissions_187-ar15384More no-till benefithttp://www.agriculture.com/crops/tillage/no-till/me-notill-benefit_188-ar14187
<p><!--StartFragment-->
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial">No-till and a corn-soybean
rotation can significantly cut field emissions of the greenhouse gas nitrous
oxide, a Purdue University study shows.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial">Agronomist Tony Vyn says
no-till reduces nitrous oxide emissions by 57% over chisel plowing and 40% over
moldboard plowing.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial">“There was a dramatic
reduction simply because of the no-till,” says Vyn, whose findings were published
in the Soil Science Society of America Journal. “We think the soil disturbance
and residue placement impacts of chisel plowing and moldboard plowing modify
the soil physical and microbial environments such that more nitrous oxide is
created and released.”</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial">During early-season nitrogen
fertilizer applications on corn, no-till may actually reduce nitrous oxide
emissions from other forms of nitrogen present in, or resulting from, that
fertilizer.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial">Nitrous oxide is the third
most abundant greenhouse gas in the atmosphere, but it has about 310 times more
heat-trapping power than carbon dioxide, in part, due to its 120-year life
span.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial">“This suggests there is
another benefit to no-till beyond soil conservation and improving water
quality,” Vyn says.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial">Using a corn-soybean
rotation instead of continuous corn decreased nitrous oxide emissions by 20% in
the three-year study. Vyn says the reduction could be even greater because for
the long-term experiment, both continuous corn and rotation crops were
fertilized based on the needs of continuous corn. A rotation cornfield would
normally get 20% less nitrogen.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial">Vyn says finding ways to
reduce nitrous oxide emissions is important because food production accounts
for about 58% of all emissions of the gas in the U.S. Of that, about 38% comes
from the soil.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial">“There is more nitrous oxide
emission coming from agriculture than the tailpipes of cars and trucks,” Vyn
says. “And there is likely to be more nitrous oxide emission if we increase
nitrogen application rates to increase cereal yields.”</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial">The study took place on a
consistently managed 30-year-old rotation/tillage experiment near Purdue. A
USDA grant to the Consortium for Agricultural Soil Mitigation of Greenhouse
Gases at Kansas State University funded the research. Vyn’s next goal is
developing integrated management practices to reduce nitrous oxide emissions
even more.&nbsp;</span></p>
<!--EndFragment-->
</p>Wed, 26 Jan 2011 20:12:41 GMThttp://www.agriculture.com/crops/tillage/no-till/me-notill-benefit_188-ar14187No-till improves soil stability in great plainshttp://www.agriculture.com/crops/tillage/no-till/notill-improves-soil-stability-in-great_188-ar13846
<p><!--StartFragment-->
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial">A</span><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;;mso-ascii-font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-font-family:
&quot;Times New Roman&quot;"> </span><span style="font-family:Arial;mso-hansi-font-family:
&quot;Times New Roman&quot;;mso-bidi-font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;">s</span><span style="font-family:Arial">tudy of various tillage practices over 19 years
across the central Great Plains shows that no-till makes soil much more stable
than plowed soil.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial">The study was conducted at four sites by ARS and university researchers. The
four sites were at Akron, Colorado; Hays and Tribune, Kansas; and Sidney,
Nebraska.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial">No-till stores more soil
carbon, which helps bind or glue soil particles together, making the first inch
of topsoil two to seven times less vulnerable to the destructive force of
raindrops than plowed soil.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial">The structure of these
aggregates in the first inch of topsoil is the first line of defense against
soil erosion by water or wind. Understanding the resistance of these aggregates
to the erosive forces of wind and rain is critical to evaluating soil
erodibility.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial">This is especially important
in semiarid regions such as the Great Plains, where low precipitation, high
evaporation, and yield variability can interact with intensive tillage to alter
aggregate properties and soil organic matter content.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande'; "><span style="font-family:Arial">Tillage makes soil less
resistant to being broken apart by raindrops because the clumping is disrupted
and soil organic matter is lost through oxidation when soil particles are
exposed to air. </span><span style="font-family:&quot;Minion Pro&quot;;mso-bidi-font-family:
&quot;Minion Pro&quot;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp;</span></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:&quot;Minion Pro&quot;;mso-bidi-font-family:
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</p>Wed, 12 Jan 2011 20:37:47 GMThttp://www.agriculture.com/crops/tillage/no-till/notill-improves-soil-stability-in-great_188-ar13846Tips for no-tilling into heavy corn residuehttp://www.agriculture.com/crops/tillage/no-till/Tips-for-notilling-into-heavy-corn-residue_188-ar6619
<p>Often producers are concerned about no-tilling into fields with large amounts of residue. The residue needs to be properly spread behind the combine during harvest of the previous crop, preferably with a straw chopper and proper chaff distribution. Minimize any residue disturbance (rolling stalk chopping or shredding) before or during planting. Leave as much residue anchored, attached, and standing upright as possible. That way you don't have to handle it and when you do run across it, the soil holds it so that the equipment can pass over it. The time and place to precondition corn residue is during harvest using knife-edged snapping rolls on the combine with the head running about 6 inches off the ground.</p>
<p>Today's planters have no trouble planting through heavy residue as long as weight has been added to the row units so they don't ride up over the residue, leaving the seed on the soil surface. For most planting conditions, raise residue movers so they run about 2 inches above the soil surface. At this height, they act as a "V plow" to lay the stalks to the side so that you only have to cut the stalks near the base.</p>
<p>For corn planting, set the depth control for about a 2.5- to 3-inch planting depth on bare soil so that when the depth gauge wheels run on the residue and over the root stumps, you are still putting the seed into the soil to at least a 2-inch planting depth. This is why weight is added to the planting units. Slow the planter to 4.5 or 5 mph so that you don't bounce over root stumps and add a "walking beam" depth control stop to John Deere planters if they don't already have one. If your double disk seed furrow openers are sharp and working together, they will cut down through the old root stump and put the seed into soil, even through residue from 250 bu/ac corn production. (Remember, the root mass you see forms about 1 inch above the seed at the nodal roots.)</p>
<p>For no-till, especially under heavy residue conditions, put a pop-up fertilizer in furrow, regardless of the soil phosphorus level (ie: 5-7 gal/ac 10-34-0). With the heavy residue, the soil may be a little cooler than if you moved the residue aside so the slower growing roots may have a temporary nutrient deficiency. The pop-up gets that seedling going and overcomes that problem.</p>
<p>Research in Minnesota on flat, poorly drained soils showed a yield response to pop-up fertilizer in heavy residue (regardless of soil phosphorus level) and showed a yield response to moving some residue out of the row, but not an additive effect. For Nebraska's conditions, most no-tillers should use the pop-up because shortly after planting, they will wish they had the residue back over the row to reduce soil crusting, conserve moisture, and reduce erosion. Also, disturbing the residue at planting makes planting much more difficult if the soil is wet under the residue. Without disturbing the residue, the depth gauge wheels of the planter ride on the residue and don't mud up, making planting depth much more uniform.</p>
<p>After planting, that residue over the row reduces the night time cooling of the row area by reducing the amount of heat radiating from the soil surface. The cooling when residue is removed leads to more stress on the seedlings because the seed zone isn't "buffered" with insulating residue. With the drainage of most of our Nebraska soils, the soil temperature difference isn't usually enough to worry about moving residue at planting time.</p>
<p>Many no-tillers also equip their planters with either Keeton Seed Firmers or Schaffert Rebounders to make sure that all the seeds are in the bottom of the furrow. Both of these devices can be set up to put the pop-up fertilizer in the furrow. The Keeton has the advantage of firming the seed into the seed-vee while the Rebounder is less likely to "mud up" in sticky clay soils. These devices quickly pay for themselves with more uniform seedling emergence. When it comes to yields, non-uniform emergence hurts you far more than non-uniform spacing.</p>
<p>Some producers are no-tilling into heavy residue on poorly drained soils where moisture conservation and erosion control aren't concerns. They try to dry out the seedbed at planting time and don't want any residue over the row.</p>
<p>These producers maintain as much standing, anchored residue as possible to maximize air flow down to the soil surface. They run a large diameter fertilizer opener on their planter to cut the residue and to provide for 2x2 placement (nitrogen and any higher salt content fertilizers that might be needed). They run residue movers, usually free floating ones, very shallow to part the residue (easy to do as the residue has already been cut). They also use a pop-up fertilizer in-furrow.</p>
<p>Many of them run spoked closing wheels to further till the soil so that it dries out and drag chains behind the wheels to smooth the soil surface. Most of these producers plant either in the row middles or slightly off the existing row rather than down the old row, however some notice reduced yields in the wheel track rows.</p>
<p>Almost any successful no-tiller will tell you that crop rotation is a key to success, especially under heavy residue conditions. Very few like to no-till corn-on-corn. Those who do say weight for penetration, a pop-up fertilizer, a soil insecticide, and the right hybrid to handle the stress are keys to making it work.</p>
<p>Often producers are concerned about no-tilling into fields with large amounts of residue. The residue needs to be properly spread behind the combine during harvest of the previous crop, preferably with a straw chopper and proper chaff distribution. Minimize any residue disturbance (rolling stalk chopping or shredding) before or during planting. Leave as much residue anchored, attached, and standing upright as possible. That way you don't have to handle it and when you do run across it, the soil holds it so that the equipment can pass over it. The time and place to precondition corn residue is during harvest using knife-edged snapping rolls on the combine with the head running about 6 inches off the ground.</p>Wed, 07 Jul 2010 14:10:28 GMThttp://www.agriculture.com/crops/tillage/no-till/Tips-for-notilling-into-heavy-corn-residue_188-ar6619Tell us about timinghttp://www.agriculture.com/crops/tillage/no-till/Tell-us-about-timing_188-ar6481
<p>A couple of wet springs have Steve and Jason Oman, Findlay, Ohio, interested in trying fall burndown ahead of their no-till soybeans. The Omans farm about 2,300 acres and are interested in spreading their workload. They also figure they'll have a better chance of controlling dandelions with a fall application but are somewhat concerned about going back to residual herbicides.</p>
<p>Steve was looking for information about the best timing of the fall burndowns when he posed a question in the Crop Scouting discussion group of Agriculture Online(tm).</p>
<p>While Crop Scouting participants offered their best advice (see sidebar at the bottom of this page), we wanted to find out what weed scientists advised. Herbicide choice is the first factor that influences timing for fall burndowns. If you go with a nonresidual product such as glyphosate plus 2,4-D or Gramoxone plus 2,4-D, you want to wait as long as you can.</p>
<p>"The timing is probably trickier because you want to make sure you get most of those winter annuals emerged," says Christy Sprague, former Extension weed scientist at the University of Illinois who recently moved to Michigan State University. "If you apply those too early, you reduce what you have out there, and youÃ•re not going to control weeds that come up later. Timing is not as flexible as with herbicides that have residual activity."</p>
<p>A couple of wet springs have Steve and Jason Oman, Findlay, Ohio, interested in trying fall burndown ahead of their no-till soybeans. The Omans farm about 2,300 acres and are interested in spreading their workload. They also figure they'll have a better chance of controlling dandelions with a fall application but are somewhat concerned about going back to residual herbicides.</p><br/><br/>
<img src = "/images/stories_images/s_agroarticles_tellus.jpg">
<p>A lot of research has shown that you get the most effective control of winter annuals by waiting until soil temperatures are at 50Â°F. or on the decline because that would limit the amount of new germination you would get that fall, says Bryan Young, weed scientist at Southern Illinois University. In southern Illinois, Young says, winter annuals typically keep emerging until about Thanksgiving.</p><p>When you pull the trigger on these residual-based applications depends on what you're after. If you are only concerned about controlling the winter annuals, you can apply a residual product most anytime after harvest and still control winter annuals that germinate through the end of the year, Young says.</p>Tue, 06 Jul 2010 22:22:39 GMThttp://www.agriculture.com/crops/tillage/no-till/Tell-us-about-timing_188-ar6481